CROCLIST: Crocodilian immune system studies

[Christopher Law]

Adam,

     Thank you for the article abstract.  Will you please do me a  
favor and keep me informed of any other research articles that might  
be released in the near future?  I would greatly appreciate it.

Best Wishes,

Chris
www.herpfanatic.com
On Oct 15, 2006, at 9:16 PM, Adam Britton wrote:

> Chris,
>
> Most of the work hasn't been published yet pending one key study  
> that's
> still ongoing (long story), but the following bits and pieces have  
> been:
>
> Britton, A.R.C., Diamond, G., Laube, D. and Kaiser, V., 2002.  
> Antimicrobial
> activity in the blood of the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
> Proceedings of the 16th Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Crocodile  
> Specialist
> Group, Florida, USA, October 2002 [abstract]
>
> ABSTRACT: The saltwater crocodile shows a low incidence of  
> infection from
> serious injuries sustained during intraspecific aggression, in  
> spite of the
> microbe-laden environment in which it lives. This suggests a well- 
> developed
> innate immune system, which provides a rapid, non-specific first  
> line of
> host defense. In other aquatic species such as amphibians and fish,  
> this
> defense is found in the mucous skin secretions as antimicrobial  
> peptides.
> Due to the anatomy of the crocodile, we reasoned that a homologous  
> defense
> would be found in the circulatory system, either as soluble factors  
> or as
> agents expressed in phagocytic cells. To address the first  
> hypothesis, we
> extracted serum from wild saltwater crocodiles to isolate naturally
> occurring antibiotics. The serum was maintained at -80C until  
> fractionation.
> Serum was fractionated by Reverse-phase HPLC on a C-18 column with  
> a 0-60%
> acetonitrile gradient, and fractions were assayed for antibiotic  
> activity
> against E. coli in a modified radial diffusion assay. Preliminary  
> results
> indicated strong antibiotic activity in several fractions. We have  
> taken a
> single fraction, eluting at 13% acetonitrile, for further  
> characterization.
> Based on our initial observations, we predict that the crocodile  
> exhibits
> both peptide and non-peptide based antimicrobial activity in its  
> blood.
>
> Merchant, M. and Britton, A.R.C., 2006. Characterization of serum  
> complement
> activity of saltwater (Crocodylus porosus) and freshwater (Crocodylus
> johnstoni) crocodiles. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A Mol. Integr.  
> Physiol. A.
> 143(4): 488-493  (sorry, I don't have a PDF of this - Mark made all  
> the
> final changes)
>
> I'm continuing to work with Dr Merchant who is driving this  
> research now,
> and he's also published quite a few papers from his lab's work on the
> alligator immune system.
>
> Merchant ME, Roche C, Elsey RM, et al. Antibacterial properties of  
> serum
> from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) COMPARATIVE
> BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY B-BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 136  
> (3):
> 505-513 NOV 2003
>
> Merchant M, Thibodeaux D, Loubser K, et al. Amoebacidal effects of  
> serum
> from the American alligator (alligator mississippiensis) JOURNAL OF
> PARASITOLOGY 90 (6): 1480-1483 DEC 2004
>
> Merchant ME, Pallansch M, Paulman RL, et al. Antiviral activity of  
> serum
> from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) ANTIVIRAL  
> RESEARCH
> 66 (1): 35-38 APR 2005
>
> Merchant ME, Verret B, Elsey RM Role of divalent metal ions in serum
> complement activity of the American alligator (Alligator  
> mississippiensis)
> COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY B-BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR  
> BIOLOGY
> 141 (3): 289-293 JUL 2005
>
> Merchant ME, Roche CM, Thibodeaux D, et al. Identification of  
> alternative
> pathway serum complement activity in the blood of the American  
> alligator
> (Alligator mississippiensis) COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY
> B-BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 141 (3): 281-288 JUL 2005
>
> Adam
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: croclist-bounces at lists.gatorhole.com
> [mailto:croclist-bounces at lists.gatorhole.com] On Behalf Of  
> Christopher Law
> Sent: Monday, 16 October 2006 3:02 AM
> To: croclist at lists.gatorhole.com
> Subject: CROCLIST: Crocodilian immune system studies
>
> Hello everyone,
>
>     I am trying to find studies on the crocodilian immune system,
> more specifically the studies conducted by Adam Britton.  I can only
> seem to find news articles, but I can't appear to find the actually
> research articles anywhere.  Can someone please point me in the right
> direction?  Or, if someone happens to have copies of the research
> articles and wouldnt mind going through the troubles of emailing them
> to me, that would be great as well.
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Chris Law
> www.herpfanatic.com
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